#3
I felt that the article presented a good contrast between a law dodging pseudo-intellectual bien pensant like Morgan who was allowed into the US because he is a "genius" and a real genius like Swartz.
a good case for MIT to atone for their sins here.

#6
I'm just getting tired of every time the Schwartz case comes up there are all these useful idiot liberals around who are shocked, SHOCKED to find that gambling is going on in this establishment and that government is abusing its power.

They never seem to make the connection between guys like this:

and people like Swartz eventually being on the receiving end.

And yes, there's a point to mentioning Morgan's name wrt this. I don't think the original opinion piece linked here mentioned that Morgan was apparently up to his tonsils in the Big Phone Hacking affair that hit the British media. Hmm, let me double check.

A Marine Corps survey found about 17 percent of male Marine respondents said they would likely leave the Corps if women move into combat positions.

That number jumped to 22 percent if women are assigned involuntarily to those jobs, according to the survey.

Male Marines also listed among their top concerns fears about being falsely accused of sexual harassment or assault, fraternization or some Marines getting preferential treatment. They also worried women would be limited because of pregnancy or personal issues that could affect the unit before they are sent to the battlefield.

Results of the survey of 53,000 Marines were released to The Associated Press on Friday.

The survey was conducted last summer and the results were given to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta before he opened thousands of combat jobs to female service members last week.

Both sexes surveyed mentioned intimate relationships between Marines and feeling obligated to protect female Marines among their top five concerns about allowing women into ground combat jobs.

Women Marines listed among their top three concerns enemies targeting women as POWs, the risk of sexual harassment or assault and hygiene requirements, according to the results which did not given specifics.

We should also boycott basketball (I think it's basketball, and maybe football, too), since they're so obviously racist. (Don't believe me? What's the percentage of Asians, American Indians, and Hispanics compared to Blacks on the teams?)

[Pak Daily Times] In the kind of tragedy the country seems all too familiar with by now, a jacket wallah has attacked a Shia mosque in Hangu, an area close to the tribal belt next to the Afghan border in northwest Pakistain, on Friday. The fatalities and casualties are devastating, with 24 dead and some 50 maimed. The bomber chose a location where Sunnis and Shias live in close proximity. The Shia mosque was close to a Sunni mosque and both sets of worshippers were at their respective places of worship. In what was no doubt a sectarian strike, the attack claimed the lives of many Sunnis as well, further proving that terror is indiscriminate. By attacking an area where both Shias and Sunnis so closely reside, the hard boyz may be trying to scare Sunnis away from associating and living with or near their Shia brothers. After such an attack, one would not be surprised if there were an exodus of entire Sunni communities from Shia populated areas. This attack was bloody and it did not discriminate probably in the hope that in the aftermath, Sunnis would be alienated from the Shias.

We are hardly a month into 2013 and already Pakistain has seen the worst kind of bloodshed of its Shia population. This is particularly worrisome because, when targeting a whopping 20 percent of the country's population, the crime moves on from being murder to being all out genocide. On January 10 of this year, twin suicide kabooms claimed the lives of 92 Shia Hazaras in Quetta in an attack that has been the worst human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... crime against the Shias in Pakistain's history. Lashkar-e-Jhangvi... a 'more violent' offshoot of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistain. LeJ's purpose in life is to murder anyone who's not of utmost religious purity, starting with Shiites but including Brelvis, Ahmadis, Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Rosicrucians, and just about anyone else you can think of. They are currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of al-Qaeda ... (LeJ) (a supposedly 'banned' Sunni terror group) grabbed credit for the attack on the Hazaras, claiming that they were infidels deserving of death. While no one has yet grabbed credit for the Hangu attack, one would not put it past the LeJ to have orchestrated another gruesome strike. If this is the trend that keeps continuing, 2013 could well become the bloodiest year for Shias in Pakistain. This blatant criminality and murderous rampage is worsening because of one simple fact: beturbanned goons have been emboldened by the sheer incompetence of those responsible for preventing such attacks. No one has ever been caught or punished for the murderous campaign against Ahmedis and other minorities in this country and no one has been tossed in the slammerYouse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! and brought to book for the killings of so many Shias. The government and our security agencies have failed to come up with efficient strategies to pre-empt terror threats. It is common knowledge that blunt weapons and brute military might cannot be used to counter terrorism in cities and urban areas. While military operations may work to some extent in the tribal areas against cut-thoat myrmidons, one cannot expect the army to go in and bomb entire cities. What is needed most urgently is precise and coordinated intelligence and police work. It is essential that our intelligence agencies predict and pre-empt any such deadly terror attack and work in tandem with the police to prevent suicide missions. Once a human 'bomb' is armed and off and running on his mission, nothing can stop him from carrying out his evil task, not even death. It is essential that the Centre work with the provinces to beat back the hard boyz from urban centres as there has been a rise in Shia killings in Bloody Karachi...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... and Quetta, as well as the northern areas. Intelligence must be improved and the police must be better equipped to deal with the menace that has begun to seep its way into our heavily populated areas. We are witnessing a genocide and if we do not halt it, it will not be long before it proves the curtain raiser for further destabilisation of the state and society.

[Dawn] THURSDAY'S attack targeting two holy mans and a madressah student in Bloody Karachi...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... reinforces a disturbing truth: gunnies roam the city's streets leaving death in their wake, and law enforcers are unable to stop them. That the ambush took place on Sharea Faisal, one of Bloody Karachi's main thoroughfares, in broad daylight, also highlights the brazenness with which killers operate in the metropolis. Many 'sensitive' locations, including armed forces' installations, are situated in the area. The holy mans belonged to Jamia Binoria, one of Bloody Karachi's most influential Deobandi madressahs. The hit was recorded by CCTV cameras belonging to a wedding lawn in the vicinity. The chilling footage shows three assailants calmly spraying the vehicle carrying the victims with bullets, then riding off on a cycle of violence.

Over the past week a number of workers belonging to different religious and political groups have been killed in Bloody Karachi, which is not news in itself considering 'routine' levels of violence in the metropolis. Police have attributed Thursday's ambush, which, thankfully, has not resulted in the usual violent reaction, to the "ongoing spree of sectarian killings". If this assessment is correct it would be in line with other incidents of cold-blooded shooting of Shias and Sunnis including some high-profile political and religious activists. While one hopes that the camera footage in Thursday's killing will provide solid clues, overall, the police's investigative capabilities have hardly kept pace with such incidents. The force's investigations wing was merged with the operations wing in 2011. So whatever little work was being done by the investigations wing has been greatly reduced. Also, with so many factors behind Bloody Karachi's violence -- ethnic, political, sectarian, criminal -- no one, especially in government, seems to have any idea about what's going on, or how to stop it. It seems that the state does not have the intention or motivation to lift the lid off Bloody Karachi's boiling cauldron of violence and identify the problems. Nor do the city's various political actors. Sindh government officials have said an "operation" will be launched to crack down on crime. Unless there is action to back up such words, which have been heard countless times, such pronouncements will remain meaningless.

[Dawn] AS Pakistan prepares for landmark elections this spring, here's a plea to the country's politicians, young and old, male and female: stop talking down to the Pakistani 'masses' and start addressing the 'people' of Pakistan. Yes, there's a difference -- a very big one.

Make the switch -- in mindsets as well as in your vocabulary -- and you will see. Suddenly, being a politician in Pakistan will become more of a challenge. It will also become, hopefully, more interesting and fulfilling.

Addressing 'people' means listening first to their hopes and aspirations, recognising them as citizens and voters, as men and women who have choices which they exercise intelligently and with dignity. The 'masses' can be neglected, ignored and browbeaten. They can be manipulated and denigrated -- and their votes can be bought and sold. Try doing that to 'people' -- and you will have a full-fledged revolution on your hands.

In the words of Emma Lazarus, the masses are tired, poor and huddled, yearning to breathe free. In contrast, people are first and foremost, free and proud individuals and second, part of a group.

For an even better distinction between the two, read Pope Pius XII's Christmas radio message in 1944, where he talks of masses as no more than "a shapeless multitude, an inert mass to be manipulated and exploited". On the other hand, a "people", he says, is much more remarkable, representing a "group of persons, each of whom -- 'at his proper place and in his own way' -- is able to form its own opinion on public matters and has the freedom to express its own political sentiments and bring them to bear positively on the common good". A state does not make a people; rather, a people make a state, the pope explains further.

#2
Pakistan is the most dangerous nation in the world today. At the rate it is devolving it is only a matter of time before its nukes - which do work - are either put to use against someone (who? Who knows!) Or lost to a non-state organization that will use them. Depending on the targets chosen (and the weather) we could easily see the first true nuclear war.

#3
Sometimes I think that the best thing that can happen to Wakiland is that it devolve back to the days of complete tribal/war-lordism where all the tribes are of equal strength and the nukes have been hauled away by the adults.

#4
Sometimes I think that the best thing that can happen to Wakiland is that it devolve back to the days of complete tribal/war-lordism. AlanC

Somewhere between Darwin's theory of Natural Selection and Big Fish Eats Little Fish,
[Pieter Bruegel the Eldar 1556], the truth must surely be found. I'm with you AlanC; devolution should be unhindered, monitored at a safe distance, and accurately recorded for posterity.

Negotiations with Iran, the Obama administration and policy elites across the political spectrum talk as if America is basically in control of the situation. Sanctions, we are told, are inflicting ever-rising hardship on Iran's economy. Either Tehran will surrender to U.S. demands that it stop enriching uranium or, at some point, the American military will destroy Iranian nuclear installations.

This is a dangerous delusion, grounded in persistent American illusions about Middle Eastern reality. Because of failed wars-cum-occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan; a war on terror that has turned Muslim societies ever more firmly against U.S. policy; and de facto support for open-ended Israeli occupation of Arab populations, America's position in the region is in free fall. Increasingly mobilized publics will not tolerate continuation of such policies. If, in this climate, the United States launches another war to disarm yet another Middle Eastern country of weapons of mass destruction it does not have, the blowback against American interests will be disastrous. Nonetheless, that is where our current strategy -- negotiating on terms that could not possibly interest Iran while escalating covert operations, cyber-attacks, and economic warfare against it -- leads.

For its own interests, Washington must take a fundamentally different approach. President Obama needs to realign U.S. relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran as thoroughly as President Nixon realigned relations with the People's Republic of China in the early 1970s. Simply "talking" to Iran will not accomplish this.

#1
So Rooters is in favor of returning Saddam to power in Iraq and the Taliban to power in Afghanistan. And taking notice of terrorist attacks on the US has turned Muslim populations even more against America. Oh yes, Israel should decamp from lands that they occupy only as a direct result of Arab attacks on Israel. And the logical conclusion of all this is that the US should recognize the basic goodness of the Iranian revolutionary guards and align US policy to them.

Did I miss anything?

"It need hardly be said that the subtlest practitioners of doublethink are those who invented doublethink and know that it is a vast system of mental cheating. In our society, those who have the best knowledge of what is happening are also those who are furthest from seeing the world as it is. In general, the greater the understanding, the greater the delusion; the more intelligent, the less sane."
-- "Emmanuel Goldstein", George Orwell, 1949

#5
"Nevertheless, there should be no illusions. The enemies of coexistence, led by Iran and its sponsorship of Hizbullah and Hamas, are trying to do all in their power to sabotage any prospect for peace. The Teheran regime, in its declared intention to wipe Israel off the map, has perverted Islam into a totalitarian political manifesto merely masquerading as a religion. It is determined to perpetuate a resolvable conflict into a future of despair. Syria, as well, is undermining Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation, through its support of terrorist groups such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, whose operational headquarters are located in Damascus.

There is no insurmountable conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Rather, there is a common denominator in the desire for peace, supported by all moderate states in the region that understand that the real threat to peace comes from the extremist states that support terrorism.

There are moderates in the Palestinian Authority who could be Israels partners for peace, who believe a future Palestinian state should be based on democracy and understanding - as opposed to the extremists, whose basic totalitarian idea is to deprive others of their rights.

Add to this that any moderate Paleo who signed a peace deal with Israel would undoubtedly be assassinated by a "Hamas' [] advocating violence, opposing a two-state solution, and denying Israel's right to exist, as well as its direct involvement in terrorism." pretty much guarantees that there will not be a peace deal until Iran is removed from the equation.

A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.